Section 259: Previous conviction
Section 259 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 deals with the issue of previous convictions in criminal proceedings. It sets out the procedure to be adopted when an accused person is charged with a previous conviction but denies its existence or relevance.
Where the existence of a previous conviction is in question under subsection (7) of section 234, and the defendant is of a state of denying any prior conviction, the presiding judge would be prohibited to use any evidence establishing a previous conviction unless and until after the said conviction is recorded upon conviction as ordered by Sections 252 of a plea of guilty and by Section 258 as either an acquittal or judgment.
The judge cannot read out the charge involving any previous conviction, require the accused to respond to it, or allow the prosecution to refer to it in their evidence until the accused has been convicted of the charge in question.
-This way, the trial does not get deviated from the charges for which it is being conducted and the integrity of the proceedings is preserved against the prejudice likely to be caused by the previous criminal record of the accused.
Only after the trial court has reached judgment on the current case under either Section 252 or 258 and has successfully obtained a conviction will it then permit evidence on the former conviction. The court is then to make formal findings on its earlier decision on the previous conviction.
